Christian Petzold wrote the Minuet in G that so many piano students play. For about 250 years, people believed that Johann Sebastian Bach wrote it, because it sits in a notebook that Bach made for his wife. Some books still print Bach’s name above it.
Quick facts
- Composer: Christian Petzold, who lived from 1677 to 1733
- Found in: the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, begun in 1725
- Length: about 1 and a half minutes
- Played on: a keyboard instrument
- Beat: three beats in a bar
- Catalog number: BWV Anh. 114
The notebook
Anna Magdalena Bach was a singer and the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1725, he gave her a handsome notebook with her initials on the cover.
Over the years, the family filled it with music they liked to play at home. Bach wrote some of the pieces. His sons wrote some. Other pieces were copied in from composers the family admired.
No one wrote a composer’s name above the Minuet in G. Later readers took it for Bach’s own.
How the truth came out
In the 1970s, a Bach scholar matched the minuet to a suite for harpsichord by Christian Petzold. The minuet and its partner, a minuet in G minor, both come from that suite.
Petzold was an organist in the German city of Dresden. He was well known in his day, and little of his music has survived. His best-known piece is known under another man’s name.
What “BWV Anh.” means
BWV is the catalog of Bach’s works. “Anh.” is short for the German word for “appendix.” The appendix lists pieces that were once thought to be by Bach and are now doubted, or known to be by someone else.
Read what opus, K, and BWV numbers mean.
What to listen for
| Part | What happens |
|---|---|
| The tune | The right hand plays one long note, a quick run up the scale, and two bouncing notes. |
| The left hand | It plays a second tune of its own, in slower notes. |
| The first half | Eight bars that ask, and eight bars that answer. Then the half repeats. |
| The second half | The music moves to a new key and finds its way home. Then this half repeats too. |
The two hands play two separate tunes that fit together. Teachers use the piece to train each hand to play its own line.
Read dances in classical music, which covers the minuet.
Where students meet it
- Piano lessons. It is in many piano books and lists for students in their first few years.
- Violin lessons. In the Suzuki violin books, students learn this tune as Minuet 3 in Book 1. The book lists Bach as the composer. The tune returns in Book 3 with its partner in G minor. Read Suzuki violin Book 3 songs in order.
- Pop music. A hit song from 1965 borrowed the tune and changed it from three beats in a bar to four.
Read Suzuki violin Book 1 songs in order and easy classical piano pieces for beginners.
Which Minuet in G?
Several famous minuets are in G. Here is how to tell them apart.
| Piece | Composer | How it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Minuet in G, from the Anna Magdalena notebook | Christian Petzold | A long note, and then a quick run up the scale |
| Minuet in G | Ludwig van Beethoven | A graceful tune with a skipping rhythm |
| Minuet in G | Ignacy Jan Paderewski | A showy concert piece for piano, much harder to play |
Things to do together
Count in three. Clap “ONE, two, three” along with a recording. Step on each “ONE.”
Follow one hand. Listen twice. Follow the right hand the first time, and the left hand the second time.
Bow and curtsy. A minuet was a dance for a ballroom. Bow at the start, take small steps in time, and bow at the end.
Two instruments. Find a recording on the piano and one on the harpsichord. Ask which one your child likes more. Read the harpsichord for kids.
Fix the label. If your child’s book says “J. S. Bach” above this piece, pencil in Petzold’s name.
Start a family notebook. Keep a book of the tunes your family likes to play and sing, the way the Bachs did.
Questions to ask
- Does it matter who wrote a piece if the music is the same?
- Why would a family keep a notebook of music?
- How would Petzold feel about the mix-up?
- Which hand has the harder part?
Words to know
- Minuet: a dance with three beats in a bar
- Notebook: here, a family’s handwritten book of music
- Catalog: a numbered list of a composer’s works
- Appendix: a section added at the end of a book
Print and play
Find G on the piano keyboard chart. Read Bach for kids and composers in piano lesson books.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.